THE R280 million fraud and corruption case related to the controversial Estina Dairy farm project has been transferred to the Bloemfontein High Court from the Bloemfontein Regional Court on Wednesday.
The matter would now be heard in the Bloemfontein High Court on January 25.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority Investigating Directorate (NPA ID) spokesperson, Sindisiwe Seboka, the accused persons face charges of contravention of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), fraud, corruption and money laundering emanating from the “alleged looting of the Free State Department of Agriculture through a company called Estina”.
“On July 5, 2012, Estina (Pty) (Ltd) entered into an agreement with the Free State department of agriculture to establish and implement a dairy farm project in Vrede, to benefit previously disadvantaged farmers and to uplift the people of the Vrede area. In terms of the agreement, Estina was to provide a capital injection of R228 million. Paras Dairy (a company incorporated in India) was presented as Estina’s partner in the Vrede Dairy Project,” said Seboka, in a statement.
“The agreement further stipulated that the department was to contribute R342 million including VAT over a period of three years. Estina received R280 million from July 2012 to April 2014. Investigations also revealed that no proper tender procedures were followed with regards the decision to fund the proposed Vrede Dairy Project. Estina did not adhere to its obligations in terms of the agreement as only the department paid its contribution into bank accounts held by Estina.”
The accused are expected to next appear in the Bloemfontein High Court on 25 January 2023.
The accused that appeared in the regional court on Tuesday include:
- Former Mineral Resources Minister, Mosebenzi Zwane.
- Former Free State head of Department for Rural Development (FSDoRD), Peter Thabethe.
- Former Chief Financial Officer, Seipati Dhlamini.
- Former Chief Director District Services, Takisi Masiteng.
- Former Sahara employee, Ugeshni Govender.
- Islandsite former Director, Ronica Ragavan.
- Estina Director, Kamal Vasram, was added to the case, as well as eight companies.
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